Bear: Exciting Things In The Works For The Tourism Industry
MNRF has posted a proposal that will positively impact the tourism industry with regard to bear hunting. NOTO has been advocating on points 1 through 3 since the beginning of the pilot. We are not done yet, but I will say it is nice to see some of our work come to fruition. There are 4 main components of the proposal:
- The Spring Bear Hunt will continue beyond the pilot as a regular hunting season. The fall hunt will remain unchanged.
- Non-resident property owners and non-resident immediate relatives will no longer be permitted to hunt bear without the services of a licenced bear outfitter. There are currently somewhere between 70 to 100 bears harvested by non-resident landowners. These allocations will be reallocated to the tourism industry.
- To resolve conflicts in assigned Bear Management Areas, anyone providing commercial hunting guide services to bear hunters (this includes resident hunters) will be required to have a bear outfitting licence (BMA). This is meant to prevent commercial bear hunting guides from using other licenced bear outfitters’ BMAs.
- Due to bear population concerns on the Bruce Peninsula, bear hunting will be reduced to 1 week during the Spring and the fall hunt will be eliminated. To our understanding there are some serious population issues in this area and there are no bear outfitters in the area.
Please use the link below and take some time to write comments on the ERO to support these changes. It is important that MNRF knows the industry supports the proposals.
ERO link: https://ero.ontario.ca/notice/019-1112?_ga=2.269074865.1745466193.1579199826-1420636470.1486405171
NOTO would also like to take this opportunity to thank our bear task force participants and the efforts of our lobby consultant, Kelly Mitchell, for their help and support.
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